Determination and desire, characteristics that we had shown in the first two games, were distinctly lacking in the 3rd. It was no surprise then that the hungrier Birkbeck took all 3 points away from Riverside Lands on a day when the 4s were banished to middle earth to play their game.
We had won the first two games without playing well and having less of the possession but had ground out victories, somehthing that we thought was going to bode well for the future. On Saturday the roles were reversed, having started slowly we dominated the middle part of the game and should have gone in to half time on better terms than 1-1. However, we were not matching Birkbeck in the areas that, at this level especially, are essential; workrate, determination and teamwork.
As the rain came down on Saturday and the ref blew his whistle we were all confident of making it 9 points out of 9 and we had the opportunity to do so playing against a team low on confidence after 2 opening defeats. It was all too evident though that we were not quite at the races, the reasons for this I have no idea. There was no talking on the pitch and players were ball watching from as early as the 10th minute. Birkbeck took an early lead when a shot ricocheted off the post and in off the back of Jake's head for his first ever competitive own goal. Ash, once again sniffing for a goal, was unlucky to see his shot saved well by the keeper when he was through on goal. With possession and pressure mounting we equalised when a corner wasnt cleared and Eric was on hand to head into the empty as the keeper floundered.
We went in at half time the better of the 2 teams despite our slow start. We had reasserted ourselves on the game and looked like the team that was going to go onto win it. However, Birkbeck were getting a lot of joy down the flanks with thier hard working full backs always overlapping but Fran and Dave were dealing admirably with thier increased work load. This was something that we had to be aware of going into the 2nd half.
In the second half we created some good chances, most of them falling to the hapless Matt. None of these could be put away even if they were not clear cut, they were opportunities that needed to be taken. We had started the 2nd half well, slicing them open relatively easily. As is often the case however, when you are dominating a goal conceded acts as a double hammer blow. We went 2-1 down when a front post corner was glanced nicely past Jake. This was where the determination and work rate of previous weeks needed to be evident, instead heads dropped, work rate ceased and there was only going to be one winner. More ball watching and we were 3-1 when our defence was left vulnerable and their striker played a 1-2 before slotting past Jake.
Throwing caution to the wind we continued to carve out chances, Lister was unlucky not to get a goal when he evaded a few challenges before shooting low into the corner but the keeper pulled out a good save. Joe then got us back into it when he drove at the defence before unleashing an unstoppable shot over the keeper and in off the underside of the bar, 3-2.
With 10 left we tried in vain to get the goal back and Birkbeck sealed the victory when they broke after Meads lost possession and with a 4v1 they were not going to miss, 4-2 and final whistle.
Its a real shame that we didnt show better character as a team and if we are to stay at the top end of the league we are going to have to pull together and ensure that we continue to work hard for each other even if games are seemingly out of our hands.
MOM went to Ash, another good display from the wide man, defenders cannot deal with him when he's at his flying best.
